The 2020 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"While OTC’s purpose is to provide an opportunity for those in the offshore petroleum industry from around the world to meet and share knowledge, our first priority is to the health and safety of our attendees and exhibitors. Therefore, OTC has made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s conference," Stephen Graham, OTC Executive Director, wrote in a letter to exhibitors.
The major offshore energy conference, which drew some 60,000 attendees to Houston last year, was originally slated to take place from May 4-7, but organizer said on March 13 that the event would be postponed until the third quarter of 2020 amid growing health concerns surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak.
Announcing today that the event would be canceled, OTC's organizers said too many energy conferences are already scheduled for that time frame. "We chose to direct our energies toward a highly successful 2021 OTC instead of competing with events that you are likely already supporting," Graham wrote.
The long-running conference, held annually in Houston each May, has been put on since 1969. At its peak in 2014, OTC drew more than 100,000 attendees from more than 100 countries.
